Health Fact Sheets
Smoking, 2016

In 2016, 16.9% of Canadians aged 12 and older (roughly 5.2 million people) smoked either daily or occasionally.Note 1 The proportion of Canadians aged 12 and older who smoked either daily or occasionally declined between 2015 and 2016 (17.7%, 16.9%). Note 2Note 3

Among the sexes, the proportion who smoked daily or occasionally was higher among males (19.4%) than females (14.5%, Chart 1).

Across all age groups, smoking was least common among youth aged 12 to 17 (3.6%), followed by adults 65 and older (9.5%). The group with the largest proportion of smokers was males aged 20 to 34—about one in four (25.8%) men in this age group were smokers (Chart 1).

Data table for Chart 1

Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Age group (years) (appearing as row headers), Percent and Confidence Interval, calculated using Lower 95% limit and Upper 95% limit units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Age group (years)

Percent

Confidence Interval

Lower 95% limit

Upper 95% limit

Males

Total (12 and older)

19.4

18.6

20.2

12 to 17

3.9

2.9

5.0

18 to 19

14.1

10.2

18.0

20 to 34

25.8

23.9

27.7

35 to 49

21.4

19.5

23.3

50 to 64

22.4

20.8

24.1

65 and older

11.0

9.9

12.2

Females

Total (12 and older)

14.5

13.8

15.1

12 to 17

3.3

2.4

4.3

18 to 19

13.1

9.3

16.8

20 to 34

18.2

16.6

19.8

35 to 49

16.4

14.8

17.9

50 to 64

17.7

16.2

19.2

65 and older

8.1

7.3

8.9

Note: 95% confidence intervals are denoted by vertical lines overlaid on the bars in this chart. They indicate the degree of variability in the estimates.Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2016.

Of the 5.2 million current smokers, the majority (3.7 million) smoked cigarettes daily. The majority of non-smokers were lifetime abstainers. Just over one in five Canadians (21.8%) were non-smokers who used to be daily smokers (Chart 2).

Note: Experimental smokers are current non-smokers who have had at least one whole cigarette in their lifetime.Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2016.

People typically begin smoking during their teenage years,Note 4 so the percentage who have not started smoking by age 20 is an indicator of future smoking rates. In 2016, 57.3% of those aged 20 to 24 had never smoked. Among this age group, the proportion for never smoking was higher for females than for males.

The proportion of smokers in Canada decreased as household income increased. Among households within the lowest income quintile,Note 5 almost 1 in 4 Canadians were smokers (23.4%). In households in the highest income quintile, just over 1 in 10 were smokers (12.0%; Chart 3).

Note: 95% confidence intervals are denoted by vertical lines overlaid on the bars in this chart. They indicate the degree of variability in the estimates.Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2016.

For analysis of smoking with other healthy behaviours see the ‘Healthy Behaviours’ Fact Sheet.

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About Smoking

Smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic respiratory disease, and other conditions.Note 6 According to the World Health Organization, smoking is an important and preventable cause of death.Note 7

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) categorizes respondents by smoking status based on their self-reported smoking habits:

Lifetime abstainer - Has never smoked a whole cigarette

Experimental smoker - Has smoked at least 1 whole cigarette, but less than 100 in their lifetime

Former occasional smoker (non-smoker now) - Currently doesn’t smoke, but has smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. These respondents have never smoked daily

Former daily smoker (non-smoker now) - Currently doesn’t smoke, but has smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. These respondents have previously smoked daily

Current occasional smoker - Smokes cigarettes occasionally

Current daily smoker - Smokes cigarettes every day

The CCHS smoking rate covers cigarettes that are bought ready-made as well as cigarettes that are self-made, but does not include electronic cigarettes.

Data

Additional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey are available from CANSIM 105–0508.

Notes

Footnote 1.

Estimates in this article referring to the national average or Canada rate exclude the territories. This is because the coverage of CCHS in 2016 does not represent the entire population of the territories. Only half of the communities in the territories were visited in 2015, and the other half in 2016 so analyses based on the territories is only available for two year cycles of the CCHS (e.g. 2015-2016).

The proportion of daily or occasional smokers was significantly different between 2015 and 2016 with a p-value of 4%. The confidence intervals for 2015 and 2016 overlapped slightly (17.1-18.2% and 16.4-17.4%), interpret this change with caution.

Based on household income, adjusted by the before-tax low income cut-off (LICO) for the household and community size. The LICO is the threshold at which a family would typically spend a larger portion of its income than the average family on the necessities of food, shelter, and clothing. This accounts for spending power based on the family and community size.

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